


Birthday Surprise

by dragons_and_angels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hp_goldenage, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-22 14:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13766244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: After years of keeping a secret, Dean and Seamus decide to come clean at their 60th birthday party. No one is surprised.





	Birthday Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to S for beta reading for me! This prompt was so fun to work on, I'm always glad to add more Dean/Seamus to the world. Thanks to the mods as well for organising this fest!

Dean let out a breath as he straightened his robes in the mirror. He got so used to wearing Muggle clothes at home, but their party was at the heart of Diagon Alley and wizard robes would be best. 

"Dean, have you seen my socks?" Seamus came ambling into their bedroom, looking under the weirdest things like Dean's mother's jewellery box and the shoe rack. His knees cracked as he bent down and Dean glanced at him. Seamus wouldn't welcome his worry, he would get irritated and sarcastic, but ever since that spell had blown out Seamus' right knee, he had been having problems with it ever since. 

"They're in my drawer since they always disappear as soon as they go in yours." Dean would say Seamus had put a spell on it if he wasn't honestly bewildered every time it happened. The next suspect on his list was his great-niece, Ally. Seamus smiled and headed over to the drawer and Dean turned back to look in the mirror. He took a deep breath. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" 

Seamus stopped shuffling through Dean's drawer and appeared over his shoulder. Dean met his eyes in the mirror and saw the same confidence that had so attracted Dean after Voldemort was defeated and the Wizarding World was rebuilding. Dean had felt like he couldn't concentrate on any one thing but Seamus had remained certain everything would work out. 

"Dean, we're turning sixty and we've been keeping this a secret for nearly thirty years. Yes, some people may be surprised and a few might be disapproving but we're stable, we're happy. Our families know about us, don't you think it's about time our friends should know about us too?" 

"Sorry. I want to do this, I do, I'm just nervous." Seamus rubbed Dean's shoulders and he focused on relaxing himself, taking several deep breaths. 

"I know, but I'll be right there at your side the whole time." 

Dean remembered that later when he was mingling with the guests at his sixtieth birthday party, the one for everyone magical in their lives. Dean had had a big family party on his actual birthday, and Seamus and Dean were planning on heading over to Ireland for Seamus' actual birthday to see his family, but they thought they would like to catch up with all their friends. People Dean hadn't seen in years were coming up to say hello to him. 

"Dean!" Lavender was as bubbly as ever, her hair as dark as when they had left Hogwarts and only a mere hint of wrinkles around the eyes. She looked twenty years younger than they actually were and more glamorous than ever, but her smile was still the same. "Thank you so much for inviting me!" 

"Of course, Lavender. Like it would be a party without you there." Dean returned her hug gladly and wondered briefly where Seamus was. Lavender was his ex-girlfriend and she and Seamus had always been closer than she and Dean. "How's Howard?" 

Lavender laughed and it sent Dean back to Hogwarts where he would hear her laugh from across the room. "Oh, we broke up nearly a year ago now. He wanted to move back to America, and while I like to go on holiday there, I couldn't imagine leaving my mum behind." Lavender's mum had had ongoing health problems for the last five years and with her dad dead, Lavender was the only family left for her. 

"I get that." Dean gave Lavender's forearm an affectionate squeeze before he let his hand drop. "You got anyone new?" 

She dropped her gaze, letting her thick, black eyelashes hide her eyes from view. It was a flirtatious move, especially when she looked up at him, but she did it with almost everyone and Dean was far too used to it to care or even respond. "His name is David. He runs _Witch Weekly_ as one of the editors there." 

"Your favourite magazine. Have you given him any ideas yet?" 

"I'm working on it!" Lavender gave another little laugh before something caught her eye. "Oh, there's Susan. I must go say hello." She looked back at him. "Talk to you later?" 

"Of course. Maybe Seamus will have reappeared from wherever he went, he was supposed to be here to help me greet everyone." 

"He'll turn up, he always does." Lavender disappeared into the crowd and Dean took a sip of his drink. He hadn't even realised he knew this many people, let alone this many people who’d want to come to his sixtieth birthday. It wasn't even like they were twenty-five and would take any opportunity to get out into London and enjoy free drinks. 

"Dean!" Ginny was dragging Harry by the hand. He looked like he wished he had stayed home under the covers and Dean instantly sympathised with him. Ginny's hair was more white than red right now and the laughter lines were thick around her eyes, just like they were for Dean. Harry was completely grey, but he had a full head of hair, something Dean was more than a little jealous of. "Thanks so much for inviting us." 

"I'm glad both of you were able to show up." He returned Ginny's hug and Harry's handshake. 

"Well, Harry was working today so it was looking dodgy. You and Seamus decided on a joint party?" Ginny looked around at the room. It was covered in magical balloons that shimmered different colours when different people walked close to them and there was a huge 6 and 0 made of flowers Seamus had gotten from Janet Abbott, Hannah Abbott's little sister. 

"Yeah, we thought it best." Normally Dean would make some crack about them being roommates and he had to consciously hold himself back right now. That wouldn't do any good, especially not with the announcement planned later. "Have you seen Seamus anywhere?" 

"Talking to Ron over by the buffet table. You okay, Dean?" Harry could be really observant at the wrong times. "You seem nervous." 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean could tell his voice was just a little too high to be natural. "We've got something to tell everyone and it's going to be soon." Harry and Ginny didn't ask any questions, though it looked like Ginny wanted to and Dean moved off towards the buffet table. He and Seamus had hired caterers for this event and did a similar spell on the buffet table that had been done at Hogwarts. The plates were overflowing and everyone had been more than complimentary. Seamus and Ron were laughing over something when Dean got there but Seamus stopped as soon as he caught Dean's eye. 

"You alright?" Seamus asked as he moved away from Ron. Dean wished he could take Seamus' hand, take some comfort from his presence but he didn't want their big announcement to be scooped by whispered rumours flying around the room. There were about forty people here and Dean knew about eight of them were known gossipers. 

"Fine. Just want to get the announcement done." Dean tried to smile but he had a feeling it came out as more of a grimace than anything else. For something he had wanted for so long, it was strange how nervous it was making him. 

"You wanted it this way round," Seamus reminded him, but Dean waved him off. Yes, he had wanted to have the party first in case their guests decided they couldn't even be around two men who were not only in a relationship with each other but had lied to them for so many years. 

"I know, I know, I'm just regretting it now." Dean drained the rest of his drink and put the empty glass on one of the revolving carts they had for empty glasses. "Do you think we could do it early?" 

Seamus raised his eyebrows but nodded his agreement. He had wanted to do it right at the beginning as they were greeting the guests, 'welcome to our party and by the way, we're gay and in a relationship', but Dean had nixed that idea. The thought of doing this announcement forty times gave him a stomach ache. 

Dean and Seamus walked over to the raised platform the opposite side of the room from the buffet table and climbed the steps up to it. Seamus' knees clicked again and Dean heard the charm put on the platform imitate the sound of a fork chiming against glass. 

The chatter died off as Dean and Seamus stood up together on the platform. They were probably a bit closer than they should have been but considering what they were about to tell all their friends (and the rest of the Wizarding World when it got out), he felt like he deserved to be near the one he loved. 

"We would like to thank you all for coming here today." Seamus sounded relaxed as if there was nothing else he would like to do but stand here and talk to a large crowd of people. "Today we're celebrating our sixtieth birthday and we couldn't imagine a better group of people to celebrate it with." 

There were a few cheers and claps from their friends. Dean looked out at all the listening faces and swallowed. Now it was his turn. 

"Today is neither of our actual birthdays, but it's a pretty special day all the same." The sound of his amplified voice made him falter and it took a gentle nudge from Seamus to make him continue. "Today is our twentieth wedding anniversary. Mine and Seamus'." 

There was quiet in the hall and Dean didn't dare look too closely at anyone's faces. If there was ever a time for a drink to be in his hand, it was now, but he and Seamus had agreed not to be holding anything when they got up to make the announcement. He was regretting this now. 

"Wait," Ginny said, loudly enough that she didn't need an amplification charm. Dean turned to look at her, dreading what she was going to say. It wasn't like he had been lying to her. He had liked her at Hogwarts, but what he felt for Seamus was so much more. Seamus had thought Ginny wouldn't hold a grudge for something that had happened over forty years ago, but Dean was pretty sure Ginny held a grudge against Percy for almost twenty years, and then only forgave him after he gave his youngest daughter's 'Ginny' as a middle name. "Are you saying that you got married and you didn't invite me?" Ginny sounded completely offended but Dean was too confused at the question. 

"Erm, what?" he said politely. 

"Come on, Gin-Gin," Lavender said, gesturing with her glass expansively. "It's not like they're going to invite exes to the wedding. I mean, that's why I wasn't invited after all." She turned to them, managing to look tipsy and terrifying at the same time. "Wait, that is why I wasn't invited, right?" 

"We didn't invite any of you to the wedding!" Seamus said, apparently as gobsmacked as Dean, though far less speechless about it. 

"You're kidding, right?" Neville looked like someone had kicked a mandrake in front of him. "Why wouldn't you invite us to your wedding?" 

"Because they wanted to keep it a secret, right?" Hermione, shrewd even after four glasses of champagne, spoke up from the back where she was standing with Parvati. 

"That's why?" Ginny's eyebrows were so high up her forehead, they had disappeared into her forehead. "If that was you keeping a secret, then you must be really crap at keeping a secret." 

"What?" Dean and Seamus said together, though Dean leaned on the shocked side of things rather than offended like Seamus. 

"You two have good jobs and earned enough to buy a house together," Padma said. She looked supremely unconcerned by anything as she flipped one dark curl over her shoulder. "You could easily afford to live on your own but you don't. Also, neither of you have dated anyone magical in nearly thirty years. You could have been dating Muggles, but considering it was both of you at the same time and you were living together, it's not a shock that there was something you weren't telling us." 

"We just figured you didn't want a lot of attention," Harry said, the master of not wanting a lot of attention. If anyone knew anything about wishing people would leave him alone, it would be Harry, and he was probably the reason Ginny had never said anything before. 

"So, you're not mad?" Dean asked weakly. Several blank expressions were turned towards him and he elaborated. "About the lying and everything." 

"If you throw a belated wedding party, definitely not," Ginny said solemnly from the side. Harry elbowed her and she cackled, sounding rather similar to when Umbridge left Hogwarts for good. 

Dean and Seamus looked at each other. "What just happened?" Dean murmured, though he could hear the amplification spell pick up on it. 

"I think several years of worrying turned out to be for nothing," Seamus answered. The two of them stared at each other some more as they tried to make sense of everything. 

"Let's not think of it that way." Dean turned back to his guests, feeling more relaxed than he had been in years. "Well, now that's out of the way, who's ready to cut the cake?" 

Several enthusiastic sounds of agreement came from their guests. This time when they climbed down the stairs, they were holding hands and Dean was leading the way. 

"Can't believe you thought you were hiding it," Terry Boot said as they passed him, and Dean rolled his eyes. Okay, maybe they had been a little ridiculous, but they had honestly thought they were being subtle. They didn't really have wizards or witches over to their place, so no one knew how many bedrooms were being used, and neither of them particularly liked public displays of affection, which hadn't changed much over the years. The only reason they were holding hands now is because they could and it was a wonderful thing, though Dean might let go if Seamus' hand continued to be this sweaty. 

"Aren't you glad we did this before cutting the cake?" Seamus murmured as they moved through the crowd. "No nervous stomach ache." Dean nodded and tried not to grin too widely at everyone and scare them off. 

Several people stopped them to congratulate them on their wedding and more than half of them mentioned ideas for their belated wedding party. 

"Since when are we having another reception?" Dean asked Seamus in a low voice. He didn't mind but it seemed like it was already a done thing, simply because Ginny had suggested it. Then again, Dean remembered that happening a lot at Hogwarts. 

Seamus shrugged. "I don't mind but if we do, I say we have it at our house. It has a big enough back garden." 

That actually sounded pretty good. Dean was sure several of their friends here would be inviting themselves over to their house after this and they might as well do everyone at the same time. They reached the cake, an enormous chocolate affair that had several layers and moving figurines of Dean and Seamus at different points of their lives. Even the wedding was on there, though no one had asked about the two of them standing there together in suits. 

The candles covered the cake, some of them sparking red and green flames. Dean saw Seamus had even managed to stick a shamrock shaped one on the second to top layer and he smiled. Lavender started off the singing of happy birthday, slightly out of tune by everyone but enthusiastic enough to make up for it. Dean couldn't take his eyes off Seamus and when they blew out the candles together, making the candles pop like a firecracker. He never let go of Seamus' hand. 

"Who wants first slice?" Seamus shouted and good-natured arguments burst out within the crowd. Dean was handed the knife and he looked at Seamus, who seemed to understand without needing to be told. He wrapped his hand around Dean's and they made the first slice together. 

"So, was I right or was I right?" Seamus asked later when they were all eating cake and their friends were teasing them about the amount of times they had given themselves away over the years. 

Dean leaned on Seamus and took another mouthful of chocolate cake. He didn't say anything, but his smile said enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a part of an anonymous fest and the creator will be revealed no later than March 30. Please comment here or at [our community on Dreamwidth.](https://hp-goldenage.dreamwidth.org/60805.html) Thanks! ♥


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